Mercato Centrale

As a man of many talents - events host, TV personality, author, columnist, yoga instructor, public speaker, and an honorary vice-consul to Monaco - it’s only fitting that the business venture RJ Ledesma co-founded, Mercato Centrale, grew to be as unique and as multi-faceted as he is.

For him, it wasn’t too difficult to multitask and have to deal with different people at the same time. After all, Ledesma grew up with a dad who had multiple pursuits, and was often asked to help out. The family’s presence in real estate, prawn farming and video rental gave the young RJ experience in various industries and instilled in him a sense of possibility for different undertakings. Fortunately, everything came together for him to be able to do something great.

Ledesma started Mercato Centrale in 2010 with co-founder Anton Diaz, drawing inspiration from the market place of the same name in Florence, Italy where he spent his honeymoon in 2008. What he had seen and experienced, he brought home with him with a dose of inspiration from his wife. Social media helped spread the word for his budding enterprise among influential groups of Philippine foodies. As the number of customers started to increase, so did the requests for an opportunity to do business in the now-famous night food market.

“We didn’t expect that being a part of 'Mercato' would become a badge of sorts for entrepreneurs. But we’re happy that we have helped in giving them exposure as they aim to grow their businesses even more,” the one time commercial model pointed out.

As Mercato continues to grow, the number of people that Ledesma and his team have to keep in contact with on a regular basis has also increased. Constant coordination with his staff, checking the Internet to find new ideas and constant social media marketing are just some of the constant tasks he needs to attend to every working day.

To accomplish this, Ledesma relies on Mercato Centrale's subscription of postpaid plans from Globe myBusiness, which he can customize based on his usage. It comes with almost twice the monthly consumable value that he uses for calls, texts and mobile data - more than enough to keep him in constant touch with his personnel as well as his followers on social media. Businessmen like him can sign up for a monthly Plan 999 which comes with an unbeatable Lenovo gadget bundle: the A536+ smartphone for communications needs and tether data to the Idea Tab A3300.

Martha Sazon, Senior Vice President for Globe myBusiness said that, “Business owners need innovative, customized and cost-effective solutions, while providing them maximum value. By designing and delivering these services, we are able to help them with their specific needs for communication.”

“This reflects the level of service we offer: highly personalized and targeted. More than a network provider, we are here for them as their trusted business advisor, looking after their businesses as if they were our own,” she added.

For Ledesma, his partners and his team, it’s all about maximizing opportunities and creating important partnerships: “Mercato Centrale has always been like a incubator for the food industry. While the drive and resources will keep owners operating their businesses, it’s a good thing to have a partner who will inspire them to succeed. Like it has been for me before, I’m certain Globe myBusiness will also be with Mercato’s business owners every step of the way.”